Wildcat’s projectsPolytopiaThe human species is rapidly and indisputably moving towards the technological singularity. The cadence of the flow of information and innovation in...The Total LibraryText that redefines...The great enhancement debateWhat will happen when for the first time in ages different human species will inhabit the earth at the same time? The day may be upon us when people...Now playingSpaceCollectiveWhere forward thinking terrestrials share ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe, living the lives of science fiction.IntroductionFeaturing Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, based on an idea by Kees Boeke.

“Today, after over fifteen years of planning, construction, delays and drama, the Large Hadron Collider began doing what it was built to do: colliding particles.
Just before 13:00 Geneva time, physicists guided two beams of protons moving at 3.5 TeV into collision points around the machine's 27 km ring. Moments later, cheers erupted from the control rooms of the machine's four main experiments, as shrapnel from the collisions flooded into the detectors.” Nature"

Going live:
“How is the LHC performing?”
“ Amazingly well.. I am almost speechless, it is the start of a great adventure”

As I am writing the last lines of this post I am simultaneously listening to the amazing live webcast of the most formidable experiment in human history, the collision of 7TV beams at Cern LHC, a project which outcome may very well revolutionize our understanding of the basic laws of physics. Mimicking the big bang , the systematic exploration of nature, is nothing less than a total revolution in our penetration into the very fabric of matter, of time, of space, and as I am listening to the words of the scientists, the engineers and the huge array of a diverse population all working together I cannot but be emotionally moved in hearing the exclamations of the speakers, the celebration, the bottles of wines and champagne being opened and the cheers of success.
However the important issue here from my standpoint is that it is broadcasted live, to millions of people all over the planet, simultaneously, we are all together watching and listening when a small percentage of our specie provides for us a possible explanation of mass, of bosons, of super symmetry, as one of the interviewees said: ‘it’s a new physics, a new model, a new beauty.. we are mapping the unknown, and waiting for the unexpected, stay tuned..”

It is in fact a:

A collective overcoming of tribal inhibition mechanisms

This is nothing short of the most difficult project for humanity for it pushes us to the limits and urges us to overcome our old prejudices, it is a competition as well as a collaboration, a truly fundamental step in shedding light not only on the first moments of the universe but probably on the first moments of our hybrid futures, our knowmadic being and our future notion states.

"Philosophy needs a nonphilosophy that comprehends it; it needs a nonphilosophical comprehension just as art needs nonart and science needs nonscience”

Deleuze and Guattari (What is Philosophy?)

1. The Knowmad

The Knowmad casts aside the commonly held monumental and hierarchical order of higher and lower and transmutes said order into the possible flow of events; and if indeed, as I assume, the bogus cosmic order is finally being cast aside for a flow of events, the old status conferred by the no-longer holding-sway command is no longer valid and in consequence a new method of status and value appreciation need be resolved.
For a Knowmad in this case there is no rightful place as was held by the ancients, a fact which in itself allows for a fresh undertaking of the concepts of liberty and democracy.
In fact it will not be untrue to state that the old questions of “how one should live his life?” or indeed “how one should act” are being transformed in the Knowmad state into a new set of questions, fundamentally resolving the two issues of knowledge and hyperconnectivity.

The Knowmad in this sense not only sees herself dissociated from the old tradition but realizes that the potentiality embedded in the hyperconnected reality holds a new set of truisms for which a different mindset is required. The new set of paradigms such as the factuality of hyperconnectivity, mobile communications and virtual or augmented realities, imply a fluid mindset that sees at any given point not equivalence of times but the superiority of elegant futures.

These futures are potential scenarios to which the Knowmad will claim no credit nor belief but simply experimentation and exploration.
It is my view that the state of the Knowmad could not have been anticipated by past philosophers for the simple reason that certain critical and necessary parameters of the Knowmad state could not have been predicted.
Chief amongst these parameters are the Internet hyperconnected reality and the newly emergent technologies of reality augmentation, these in tandem create a new existential situation for which no philosophy was prepared and anticipated.

When Nietzsche obliterated god and eliminated our transcendent morality basis he did not anticipate that the hyperconnected reality would in a very special sense come to our rescue. Instead of getting lost in a chaotic abyss of non-restraint we are founding right now a fresh transcendence, which is nothing short than a virtuality of non-transcendence .
Of what substance is this virtuality made that it may allow us to answer the basic questions of life?

Fundamentally it is made of an emergent property (and no it is not the wisdom of the crowds- a concept to which I am not attracted) of the hyperconnected reality, the emergent phenomena of multiple co-dependent personas each carrying a set of knowledge characteristics pertinent to the appropriate virtuality in which it resides. (See Topos- a topos in a polytopia, what is)
The main point to look at here is the fact that a topos does not hold a judging function and thus does not demand a justification for its perceptual virtuality. What this implies is that the new questions and the new mindset do not have, or perhaps do not carry the metrics of outsidedeness; in other words there is no universal mechanisms (or truths or values ) to judge the trustworthiness say, of a given persona in a given virtuality at a given time, the mechanism for value realization is thus inherent in the topos itself and is not automatically transferable to other nets (or other topos). However if the value cannot be transferred to other topos how is a polytopia to operate a large-scale multidimensional value assessment?

The answer to that may be found in understanding the real life happenings of networks and cross network pollination and eventual cross-fertilization. A system developing on its own, and though based on the provided technology of the platform results in the rise of the Knowmad state.

2. The Knowmad State

note: Bullets are marked 1 to 6 - the quotes before each and every bullet point are for reflection and emphasize- adding what I believe is a hypertextual backbone to the concept of the Knowmadic state.

"There is no evidence that the world is becoming more virtual. The cyber-prophets were wrong here. The virtual is becoming more real. It wants to penetrate and map out our real lives and social relationships. We are no longer encouraged to act out some role, but forced to be “ourselves” (which is no less theatrical or artificial)."

1. For a Knowmad confines are observational tools, to be upgraded, smoothened, changed or indeed virtualized and redesigned at will according to the needs of the infocology the Knowmad partakes in and co-depends upon.

"Changing our way of thinking about the world is a necessary first step, but it is by no means sufficient: we will need to destratify reality itself, and we must do so without the guarantee of a golden age ahead, knowing full well the dangers and possible restratifications we may face."

(DeLanda (2005: 274))

2. The knowmadic state embodies the dynamical symbolism of radical digital Darwinism, in practice this implies the freedom to resist quick assimilations and challenge broken perspectives. The knowmadic state is soaking in a flowing multitude of objects and sensations, info visuals and knowledge dimensions.

"For Deleuze, a nomad does not have to move… a nomad can practice nomadology whilst being in one place. It is the nomadology of thought - the journey to new territories through processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization. "

3.The Knowmad can be said to be both a-temporal in the sense that the belonging of said mind couldn’t be implied upon a particular time, and a-spatial in the sense that the belonging of aforesaid mind cannot be implied upon a particular space or location.
The Knowmad state thus is the embodiment of an infocology and a manifestation of a Topos.

"Decoding and interpreting signals, packets, gestures etc. is what we call communication. Since the birth of the computer, that viral mechanism has established a symbiotic relationship with their creators, to the point where humans cannot longer function as a society without them. As we merge and augment our senses, our machinic self takes over a majority of functions that we once considered essential for survival, including memory, the control of vital organs and appendices. Carbon and silicon, en route to the next evolutionary stage, collaborate to bring about the inevitable transformation. Telecommunications and the internet have become mobile. We are the nodes, the packets and the modems. We are still the storytellers, and we wish to share the magic around the digital fire. As we pull the curtain we discover that the Wizard is Us."

4. The Knowmad state is the ultimate knowledge Shaman, a modern day techno actuator, and a polytopian in action; embedding and embodying a multi-sensorial modality of thought and act, a living virtual manifestation of mind. Knowmads recount the story of the freedom of information and knowledge as manifested in matter and immediacy.

"A random scrap of information can trigger just the right conceptual collision. It’s hard to know which scrap might do the trick, but that’s the beauty of social networks — they constantly produce potential sparks, for free."

5. The Knowmad state epitomizes the serendipity of knowledge and random fluctuations in infocologies. The embodiment of motion and flow, within a given asymmetrical infocology is the primary activity of self-mapping Knowmads. (for an extended view see: self-mapping in complex infocologies)

"In network theory, a node’s relationship to other networks is more important than its own uniqueness. Similarly, today we situate ourselves less as individuals and more as the product of multiple networks composed of both humans and things."

6. For the Knowmad the state of affairs of existence is a networked flow of events. The mind of Knowmads does not attach importance to the possession of an idea, or to the particular manner in which embodiment is produced and manifested. Knowmads travel in and upon information seas, creating temporary habitats as infocologies, without bias and no denomination. Knowmads are evolutionary agents, creating, designing, partaking and co-depending on infoflows.

post update Apr 15:

7.To be a Knowmad is to be a different kind of being, a different way of being, a facilitator of cultures, against monoculture and mono-linguistics, we need creative templates for the next kind of freedom to come forth.

8. Knowmads are different in as much as they are an embodiment of the progress of the evolutionary principle in culture. Knowmads are inclusive beings, ordering chaotic flows of information into cultural phenomena.

9. The Knowmad is the proactive stance of the hyperconnected player in the infosphere, she moves, he surfs, we collaborate, we actively engage and indeed pattern new potentials into new forms of existence.

10. Knowmads excel in ambiguous situations, demystifying mythologies, enhancing syntax and semantics conversion into actual adaptation of new forms of meaning, these in turn change the very meaning of enmeshed existence.

Interlude

Knowmads are substantial agents of change, who drastically alter the infocologies they interact with. The level of freedom implied by the knowmadic state is a new existential virtuality that pushes into the real, in the process transforming and meshing the different dimensions in which our minds operate. Existing as non-localized behaviors of information processing, Knowmads are not consumers and cannot be looked upon as capital. Knowmads are the innovators of thought and vision, using an insight mechanism based on correlated data-spheres of complex infocologies.
Knowmads do not care for labels of old style paradigms, such as gender ,creed, race or indeed status, what Knowmads care about are the pleasures derived in forming new connections, mash-ups and provisional options, innovative solutions for the next step in human evolution.
Our complex neuro-mesh firing in tandem, has produced this amazing property we call conscious awareness, with the advent of 21st century tech, augmented reality apps, visually stunning info-graphics, virtualities at our finger tips, p2p technologies availability and the like we are becoming Knowmads. The value of the Knowmad state is thus in providing a fresh framework and a new narrative to fill our old storytelling needs in our ever-increasing process of self-description.

XiXiDuWed, Mar 31, 2010Permanent linkBig bang machine? Isn't it very far away from the big bang in terms of energies and states of matter, as the closer you get the energies rise exponentially? Anyway, I'm a little bit disappointed by the recent success as continuous failure would have proven, or rather have supported the notion of the Anthropic principle.

The first line of your post is really interesting as it addresses the last lines of your post, and thus the future. But it also shows how easily we can be wrong, as the first lines of a essay can be last for its writer.

The LHC reminds me of the end of Accelerando. I don't remember too well, but I think in a far away place aliens were trying to rip apart reality itself. That's what we're doing today as well. It's a brute force approach. Right now this is a great method, as it produces valuable and important data. But it may also be the only hope we have in the far future.

It's right that we've come a far from the first signs of cooperation in our distant evolutionary past, towards a world-wide collaboration to tackle reality itself. And I'm sure this will all converge. We're heading towards a tipping point of cooperation that will likely result in the creation of effective meta-beings, connected but uninhibited by spatial boundaries.

That said, it's pretty tough stuff. I assume I'll have to read everything else you wrote and read up on a lot of concepts being mentioned.

What I want to object, or rather question, is that Knowmads are not consumers and cannot be looked upon as capital. How is that? There surely are those systems outside of any given open system who might make use of its output, i.e. make use of the whole infocology. You might call it Infological mechanics as analog to Orbital mechanics.

WildcatFri, Apr 2, 2010Permanent linkXiXidu:"What I want to object, or rather question, is that Knowmads are not consumers and cannot be looked upon as capital. How is that?"

The answer to that is pretty simple actually, Knowmads are inherently active seekers of new opportunities and therefore cannot be looked at as consumers in the regular sense of the word, Knowmads do not consume but provide fresh elaboration on initial concepts, in that they cannot be looked upon as a capital or resource of the actual infocology in which they exist.
From a different perspective I have strong objections in using the language of economics to imply upon our minds hyperconnectivity, I truly think that part of the problems we are facing is in the language we are using in our process of self description. If the Knowmad was to be described as a capital the whole infocology argument would disintegrate for the very fact of being described as a resource speaks about usage. The Knowmad is not a user in the regular sense of the word as well; she is a multidimensional representation of a complex emergent property of networks and therefore operates more as a hub and transducer (what I referred to as a multi-sensorial modality).
Finally let me say that the future I perceive is one in which the age of abundance will prevail, in this case the whole point of resource and capital, consumption and use become moot. What we will have is different dimensions of existential modalities co-depending and co-evolving into multiple and concomitant realities, some of which will interact with others, some of which will not. As a rule of thumb I think that terminologies that find their basis in matter (assets, consumption,capital etc.) are a hindrance in understanding the motion of the infosphere.

SpaceweaverFri, Apr 2, 2010Permanent linkI like the word Knowmad, though I must admit I did not manage to correlate the 6 conceptual sketches presented into stable relation(s) with each other. It seems to deconstruct a certain process of individuation, or, if you prefer, to deterritorialize the current conception of the individual, but it feels unclear what is the alternative offered, if there is an alternative offered. I could ask, for example, a state of who or what is the knowmad and it is very difficult to even address the question, given the extreme fluidity implied by the descriptions.

In a previous post, you mentioned self mapping, hinting (i think) to a self generated emergent motion of becoming. Also there, a sense of deterritorialization of identity is apparent, but it is not clear how territory (be it fleeting as it may) is regained. How emergence takes place, or how embodiment as extension/expression of being takes place? I do not think you wish to describe a virtuality with ever diminishing actuation, but perhaps I do not understand where it goes...

Reading it as a whole leaves me with two options: either a knowmad is a state that anchors its fluid identity in a majority of 'lesser' (less knowmadic and therefore less advanced), more stable self-identical states (this is a problematic kind of freedom), or alternatively, the whole dynamics converges to a global brain/mind scenario where knowmads are differences (or intensities as Deleuze would call them in this case :-)) which cannot be identified as distinct and significant processes of individuation. In the latter option, significant states are possibly identified only at the level of a global mind to which we the knowmads have no access more than a single neuronal bundle can access a holistic state of consciousness. I do think that a narrative in as much as it suggests a reconfiguration of minds, needs to offer a whole swing of deterritorialization and reterritorialization. Otherwise, there are plenty of stories and descriptions that can hijack this motion and trap it in old conceptions.

WildcatSun, Apr 4, 2010Permanent linkFirst let me say that I appreciate the problems you have encountered, since by the very definition of the new state I am trying to describe, instability reigns supreme.
Indeed the very process we are engaged in is one of deterritorialization, a motion towards fluidity.
Knowmads unbundle, Knowmads deterritorialize in fact the confines of the old sovereign (idea of a coherent) individual into multiplicities and reterritorialize as a multiple state. Therefore the Knowmad is both a state of affairs of mind in general and the particular mind of a so-called individual (you could say that it is both a cultural state of affairs as well as a neuronal state of affairs ). Indeed the descriptions are fluid and dynamic and do not lend themselves, easily, to the commonly accepted description of oneness (either of one self or otherwise) however the whole point is that the alternative must be built, by ourselves, by our culture, by our polytopian existence. A multiple selves reality existing simultaneously in a multidimensional reality is an approximation to a possible description of this new state of affairs referred to as the Knowmad state.

In my next post I will try and exemplify what this knowmadic state consists of, however at this point let me give an intro into three possible extensions to the knowmadic state :

A Knowmad is continuously busy in an aesthetic engagement that can be seen as the creative act of the self-mapping hyperconnected mind. This will come forth as a:

The question: Why does the concept of hyperconnectivity occupies such a large role in this development of ideas? It seems to me that hyper connectivity is at best an anecdotal and temporary effect within the complex unfolding of relations between one kind of network (biological - neuronal) and another kind of network (electronic). As organisms, our sensory surface is multi modal. We see (the street through the window), hear (music in the radio), taste (chilli) and feel (the smoothness of the table) (among other things) simultaneously. Neeless to mention that these sensory signals originate from very diverse and unrelated sources. Do we gain anything extra by relating to this situation as being hyperconnected?

The point: In any complex open ended system or state of affairs, we can observe a deep structure of alternating layers of stability and instability that converge and diverge together while bringing forth their complex behaviors.

Here are two examples: a living cell and a computer chip. In a living cell, atoms and molecules are a stable layer on account of being regulated by fundamental physical forces. On the next layer, relations between organic molecules are largely unstable because many random circumstances such as temperature, chemical instabilities within chemical reactions etc. On the next level, higher regulative mechanisms appear that constrain this instability into ordered patterns of autopoietic functions. But also here the stable functions operate within another layer of instability that is induced by the dynamic circumstances external to the living cell such as the excess or lack of certain essential compounds, penetration of viruses etc. This is of course a simplified description but it makes the point. On a silicon computer chip we can see similar kind of layering: molecular stability, within the quantum induced instability of semi conductors which in turn is constrained by the structure of transistors, which yield in turn regular yet fluctuating electric potentials and currents, that are patterned into stable ones and zeros that in themselves are in complex dynamic relations with each other that yield a pseudo random unstable activity of ones and zeroes which is again ordered into higher order stable computational patterns so that 2+2 is always 4 etc.

There are many other examples of this interesting layering which seems to be inherent in any complex system and state of affairs. It is remarkable to note that there is no fundamental asymmetry (or symmetry) between the stable and unstable layers of a complex state of affairs. There is rather an interplay: layers of stability and instability that converge and diverge, fluidity and self identical entities that emerge from them while harboring within themselves new kinds of instability and therefore new potentials for patterning... It is the interplay of ordered and chaotic elements that signifies emergence of complex open ended phenomena. The knowmad if it is to become, is to partake in the interplay of multiple layers of instability and stability. I am still missing some grasp on the latter. This, I hope, might further clarify my previous comment.

Couple of questions that I've been thinking quite a bit lately (and according to my interpretation are touched in this post as well, at least in an implicit manner):

In the age of hyperconnectivity, how do we distinguish the connections (or knowledge) that really matter, that make the difference (when it comes to our personal/collective past/present/future)? How do we recognize the things and entities that are necessary or somewhat significant for us and our social sphere/society?

As it seems, we can continue expanding and mapping the multilinear/inter-relational connections ad infinitum (or can we?)… So, what are the practical and beneficial mechanisms or processes that help us to cope with the new state of hyperconnectivity (more connections, more information, more interpretations, more responsibilities… etc.), and/or help us to become more ourselves through self-expression and self-reflection. How can we use/harness (?) the emerging (personal and collective) interpretative processes (to be used) for the benefit of the whole humanity?

It seems that I'm all about rather open questions today. I hope we'll continue the mapping of these emerging territories of thought. Looking forward to continue the dialogue.

WildcatWed, Apr 7, 2010Permanent link° Spaceweaver: "The question: Why does the concept of hyperconnectivity occupies such a large role in this development of ideas? It seems to me that hyper connectivity is at best an anecdotal and temporary effect within the complex unfolding of relations between one kind of network (biological - neuronal) and another kind of network (electronic). As organisms, our sensory surface is multi modal. We see (the street through the window), hear (music in the radio), taste (chilli) and feel (the smoothness of the table) (among other things) simultaneously. Needless to mention that these sensory signals originate from very diverse and unrelated sources. Do we gain anything extra by relating to this situation as being hyperconnected?"

Definitely, we gain a large advantage by relating to this state of affairs as hyperconnected, for a few reasons:

1. Hyperconnectivity defines the number of connections a mind has with other minds via the grid, the Internet and phones, no other terminology relates directly to this modern day state of affairs.
2. Hyperconnectivity is a new state of affairs in which a communication status and procedure is always on
3. Hyperconnectivity defines a new space that never existed before, a space of information and knowledge that has no parallel not in the human brain and not in the physical universe.
4. Hyperconnectivity redefines our capability as minds in the form of amplification of sense thought of ideas and of motives.
5. Hyperconnectivity externalizes the mythological collective subconscious into a manifested reality.
6. Hyperconnectivity allows for a new form of distribution of knowledge and information that bypasses the physicality of the individual into a virtuality of interests.
7. Hyperconnectivity implies upon the market and economy of the new world by democratizing the process of mutual co-existence and intersubjective co-dependence.
8. Hyperconnectivity both trivializes the (apparently) sacred and important and elevates the inconsequential and apparently irrelevant, this creates new sources of mutations of both knowledge and information, this can also be looked upon as evolution of thought.

Spaceweaver:" There are many other examples of this interesting layering which seems to be inherent in any complex system and state of affairs. It is remarkable to note that there is no fundamental asymmetry (or symmetry) between the stable and unstable layers of a complex state of affairs. There is rather an interplay: layers of stability and instability that converge and diverge, fluidity and self identical entities that emerge from them while harboring within themselves new kinds of instability and therefore new potentials for patterning... It is the interplay of ordered and chaotic elements that signifies emergence of complex open ended phenomena. The knowmad if it is to become, is to partake in the interplay of multiple layers of instability and stability. I am still missing some grasp on the latter. This, I hope, might further clarify my previous comment."

I could not agree more, the Knowmad as you say:” is to partake in the interplay of multiple layers of instability and stability.” Which is exactly the point of why we should strive to create a coherent and up to date philosophy of mind that may allow us this very interplay that is so apparent in complex systems.
The interplay of order and chaos is definitely the border line of existential virtuality we are entering and manifesting, this is no easy matter for it demands of us the realization that our own instability as systems is maintained by an increased dependence on the other, that is where I see the hyperconnected individual co-existing and co-dependent on the infocologies she exists in becoming a Knowmad.
As I see it the Knowmad is the proactive stance of the hyperconnected player in the infosphere, she moves, he surfs, we collaborate, we actively engage and indeed pattern new potentials into new forms of existence.

Thank you spaceweaver for this comment as it enhances my own understanding of the very concept of the Knowmad and will (and in fact already does) influence the next step of my comprehension and therefore I see this as the very backbone and meaning of what being a hyperconnected Knowmad is.

Finally allow me to state that for me this very happening right here right now is the very form by which the new aesthetics of engagement become real and extend my mind into a new multiplcity. Isnt that the very meaning of the interplay between dimensions you have pointed at?

WildcatThu, Apr 15, 2010Permanent linkpost updated with four more (7- 10) defining characteristics of the knowmadic state

gammaFri, Apr 16, 2010Permanent linkThe secrets of the quantum physics discovered on an old album...

CoCreatrSat, Apr 24, 2010Permanent linkThanks, Wildcat, for this post, seminal to me and a main reason you all read this. I had glanced it over the day before graduating myself as a knowmad. And thanks for your comment on my inaugural post.

Here is the test for a knowmad that occurred to me walking home from public transport on a coldish spring city night in Asia. What I can write does not do justice to the vibratory perception, invoke it on your own with a few bits of your high-voltage imagination :-)

If you have never heard the word 'knowmad' do you seek for its meaning by feeling it out in your mind?

Did you read up on what a 'knowmad' could be to your own satisfaction in understanding? (Note: asking the likes of "do you get it" would be counterproductive.)

Do you want to be a 'knowmad' even before knowing what exactly that means?

Are you aware of your personal reason for wanting to be a 'knowmad'?

In the face of what could be called an overwhelming amount of information and ambiguity do you 'know', however foggy the notion, one thing you wish to do next?

Do you feel able to add a question related to 'knowmad' to expand this list? You don't have to. Are you fine with this?

After answering all questions to your own satisfaction, in whatever time it may take, you may feel you want to graduate as a knowmad. Congratulate yourself. Now you know. Share some.

gammaTue, Apr 27, 2010Permanent linkHi. I read your list of questions. I suppose that if you ever wished you stay a student and a hobbyist, then you are a knowmad? The term sounds to me very similar to an "open-minded enthusiast" and I appreciate the idea.

CoCreatrTue, Apr 27, 2010Permanent linkThanks, gamma. I suppose if you are a pro at something and realize you are a beginner at something else, you are an enthusiast, too?

gammaWed, Apr 28, 2010Permanent linkThe point is to integrate the human energy in different situations in which the man is a different person. I use the integration as the strategy of behavior which collects the notions into a universal model. By using the strategy, I encounter the surprises in a certain way, maybe with more expectation.

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